About New England Wax

NEW ENGLAND WAX (N.E.W.) is a lively and growing professional organization connecting artists in the six New England states who work with encaustic and other wax-based mediums.

N.E.W. provides opportunities

  • to exhibit
  • to share technical information and aesthetic ideas
  • to build friendships with other artists

 

Our mission is

  • to promote excellence in fine art made with encaustic and other wax-based mediums
  • to educate the general public about these mediums
  • to increase interest in encaustic in the art world

 

What is encaustic?

Encaustic, meaning “to burn in” in Greek, dates back to the 5th century B.C.  Used as a contemporary medium, it is a versatile method of painting with a beeswax-based paint kept molten on a heated palette.  Using an absorbent and sturdy support, artists mix colors, apply wax, fuse, etch, layer, collage, transfer photocopied images, and incorporate found objects.

 

What are other wax-based mediums?

The other mediums that incorporate wax, include cold wax medium, wax pastes, and water-based wax paints. Cold wax medium is a beeswax and resin dissolved in a solvent. It is customarily added to oil paint for its ability to add body and translucency. Wax pastes are made with linseed oil, and also are mixed with oil paints, without the use of solvents. Water-based wax paints are emulsions that allow for diluting with water.

 

More about New England Wax

  • We have about 30 artist-members from all six New England states.
  • Our goals include professional, juried exhibitions in high quality venues.
  • We meet about six times per year, in different parts of New England
  • Our meetings always have an art component, such as museum or exhibition visits, guest speakers, art shares, or artist interviews,  as well as a business meeting
  • There are attendance and participation requirements—you must show up and you must contribute.
  • Hélène Farrar is the current President, with Ruth Sack as President-elect.
  • Former Presidents include, Jeanne Borofsky, Debra Claffey, Pamela DeJong, Dietlind Vander Schaaf, and Angel Dean.

New England Wax Founder – Professional Artist and Teacher  Kim Bernard

Kim Bernard shows her sculpture, installations and encaustic works nationally and has been invited to participate in many exhibits, some of which include the Portland Museum of Art, Currier Museum of Art, Fuller Craft Museum, Colby College Museum of Art, Art Complex Museum and UNH Museum of Art. Her work has been reviewed in the Boston Globe, Art News and featured in Art New England. Bernard is the recipient of the Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant, a NEFA grant, several Maine Arts Commission Grants and was an artist-in-residence in the Physics Department at Harvard University in 2015-16 and the artist-in-residence at the University of New England in 2016-17. She received her BFA from Parsons in 1987, her MFA from Mass Art in 2010. Bernard mentors emerging artists individually and teaches workshops nationally.

Helpful links for artists painting in the encaustic medium:

Supplies
R&F Handmade Paints, Inc.
Evans Encaustics
Miles Conrad Encaustics
Enkaustikos Paints 
Kama Pigments
Artist’s Workshop Panels

Resources
The Art of Encaustic Painting
International Encaustic Artists (IEA)
International Encaustic Conference
Museum of Encaustic Art

Teaching+Artists